Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk was assigned as the navigator
aboard the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay. The crew of Enola
Gay was part of the 509th Composite Group stationed on Tinian Island during
World War II.

Van Kirk joined the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet program in October 1941. On
April 1, 1942 he received both his commission and navigator wings and
transferred to the 97th Bomb Group, the first operational B-17 Flying Fortress
unit in England. The crew of the Red Gremlin also included pilot Paul
Tibbets and Tom Ferebee, bombardier.

From August to October 1942 the crew flew 11 missions out of England. They were
also the lead aircraft, responsible for group navigation and bombing. In October
1942 they flew General Mark Clark to Gibraltar for his secret North African
rendezvous with the French prior to Operation TORCH. In November they ferried
General Dwight D. Eisenhower to Gibraltar to command the North African invasion
forces. After German reinforcements began pouring into the port of Bizerte,
Tunisia, posing a serious threat to Allied strategy, a new mission emerged. On
November 16, 1942 the crew led their group in an attack that took the Germans by
complete surprise at Sidi Ahmed Air Base at Bizerte.

Van Kirk returned to the United States in June 1943 after flying a total of 58
missions overseas. He served as an instructor navigator until reuniting with
Tibbets and Ferebee in the 509th Composite Group at Wendover Field, Utah, in
late 1944. The group flew the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, with Tibbets as
commander and Van Kirk as the group navigator. From November 1944 to June 1945
they trained continually for the first atomic bomb drop. The day they had so
diligently prepared for arrived on August 6, 1945. The thirteen-hour mission to
Hiroshima began at 0245 Tinian time. By the time they rendezvoused with their
accompanying B-29s at 0607 over Iwo Jima, the group was three hours from the
target area. As they approached the target Van Kirk worked closely with the
bombardier, Tom Ferebee, to confirm the winds and aim point. The bomb fell away
from the aircraft at 0915:17 Tinian time.

Van Kirk later participated in Operation CROSSROADS, the first Bikini Atoll
atomic bomb tests. In August 1946 he completed his service in the Air Force as a
Major. His decorations include the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross
and 15 Air Medals. Van Kirk went on to receive his Bachelor and Master of
Science degrees in Chemical Engineering from Bucknell University in 1949 and
1950. For the next 35 years he held various technical and managerial positions
in research and marketing with a major US company.

Morris R. Jeppson

U.S. Navy Lieutenant Morris R. Jeppson was a mission
specialist assigned as the assistant weaponeer aboard the Boeing B-29
Superfortress Enola Gay during its August 6, 1945 mission. His job for
this mission was to provide assistance to U.S. Navy Captain William “Deak”
Parsons with the final assembly and arming of the Little Boy atomic bomb in the
bomb bay after Enola Gay had departed Tinian Field. The crew of
Enola Gay was assigned to the 509th Composite Group stationed on Tinian
Island during World War II.

Paul W. Tibbets, Jr.

Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. was born in Quincy, Illinois on
February 23, 1915. He graduated from Western Military Academy in Alton, Illinois
in 1933, and later attended the University of Florida and the University of
Cincinnati where he majored in chemistry.

Click on Picture to enlarge

He entered the Army Air Corps on February 25, 1937 at Fort Thomas, Kentucky.
Immediately thereafter, he entered flying school at Randolph Field, Texas and in
February 1938 graduated from pilot school at Kelly Field, Texas. He was
commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. His first assignment was to Flight B, 16th
Observation Squadron, Lawson Field, Fort Benning, Georgia.

In April 1941, Tibbets became group engineering officer of the 3d Attack Group,
Hunter Air Field, Savannah, Georgia. On December 4, 1941, he received orders to
join the 29th Bomb Group at MacDill Field, Florida. However, before reporting to
MacDill he was placed on temporary duty to take 21 Douglas B-18s to Pope Field,
Fort Bragg, North Carolina to form an anti-submarine patrol; it was not until
February 1942, Tibbets actually reported for duty with the 29th Bomb Group at
MacDill Field as engineering officer. After three weeks, he was made commander
of the 340th Bomb Squadron, 97th Bomb Group, which was formed from a cadre taken
from the 29th Bomb Group. From February until June 1942, he was in training for
an overseas movement.

In June 1942, he arrived in England and immediately went into combat operations,
flying 25 combat missions in Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, including the first
American Flying Fortress raid against occupied Europe. In October 1942, Tibbets
was given the special assignment of flying General Mark Clark to make his
rendezvous with the French in preparation for the invasion of North Africa. Upon
his return from this trip, he was retained to ferry General Dwight D. Eisenhower
and his staff to Gibraltar on the night of the invasion. Tibbets then flew
General Clark to Algiers where General Clark took control of the invasion
forces.

For the next 30 days, Tibbets conducted bombardment missions in the North
African area under the direct control of the British, pending build-up of the
American bomber forces.

He led the first heavy bombardment mission in support of the invasion of North
Africa. In November 1942, Tibbets reverted to control of the Twelfth Air Force
and, with the arrival of the remainder of the 97th Bombardment Group, resumed
normal combat operations in the Sahara Desert area. In January 1943, he was
reassigned to the Twelfth Air Force Headquarters at Algiers as assistant
operations officer in charge of bomber operations under then Colonel Lauris
Norstad.

In March 1943, he returned to the United States for the purpose of participating
in the B-29 program. This flight test work with the Boeing factory and Air
Materiel Command continued until March 1944 at which time Tibbets was
transferred to Grand Island, Nebraska as director of operations under General
Frank Armstrong who started a B-29 instructor transition school. In September
1944, he was assigned to the Atomic Bomb Project as the Air Force officer in
charge of developing an organization capable of employing the atomic bomb in
combat operations, and mating the development of the bomb to the airplane. In
this function, he was also charged with the flight test development of the
atomic bomb itself. As these developments progressed, Tibbets was further
charged with the tactical training of the bombardment organization and their
deployment into the combat theater of operations.

Tibbets requisitioned 15 new Boeing B-29 Superfortresses and specified they be
stripped of turrets and armor plating except for the tail gunner position; that
fuel-injected engines and new technology reversible-pitch propellers be
installed; and the bomb bay be re-configured to suspend, from a single point,
ten thousand pounds. Such an airplane would fly higher, faster, and above the
effective range of anti-aircraft fire.

Tibbets selected a B-29 bombardment squadron, the 393rd, in its final stage of
training, and Wendover Army Air Field located on the Utah/Nevada border for
"starters". The 393rd BG was fully equipped and the base had a fully manned
"housekeeping" group. Wendover Field was isolated but close enough to Los Alamos
to work together. The Salton Sea was an ideal distance for bombing practice.

Then on December 17th, 1944, formal orders were issued activating the 509th
Composite Group, consisting of seven subordinate units. In March 1945 the First
Ordnance Squadron, a unit designed to carry out the technical phases of the
group responsibilities, became part of the 509th. The personnel count now
exceeded 1500 enlisted men and some 200 officers. Quietly, the group started
moving overseas to Tinian Island in the Marianas chain.

On the afternoon of August 5th, 1945, President Truman gave his approval to use
the weapons against Japan. By the time the plane left, its familiar arrowhead
tail motif had been changed on both sides to the letter "R" in a circle, the
standard identification markings for the Sixth Bomb Group. The idea behind the
change was to confuse the enemy if they made contact, which they did not. At
02:30 A.M. August 6th, the B-29 nicknamed Enola Gay by Tibbets lifted
off North Field with Colonel Tibbets and his crew en route to Hiroshima, Japan.
At exactly 09:15 plus 7 seconds (08:17:17 Hiroshima time) the world's first
atomic bomb was released. The course of history and the nature of warfare were
changed.

With the end of the war in September 1945, Colonel Tibbets' organization was
transferred to what is now Walker Air Force Base, Roswell, New Mexico, and
remained there until August 1946. It was during this period that the Bikini Bomb
Project took place, with Colonel Tibbets participating as technical adviser to
the Air Force commander. He was then assigned to the Air Command and Staff
School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, from which he graduated in 1947. His
next assignment was to the Directorate of Requirements, Headquarters U.S. Air
Force, where he subsequently served as director of the Strategic Air Division.

In June 1950, Colonel Tibbets was assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and
from July 1950 until February 1952, was Boeing B-47 Stratojet project officer at
the Boeing Airplane Company, Wichita, Kansas, where the service test of the B-47
to determine its operational suitability took place. From February 1952 until
August 1954, he was commander of the Proof Test Division at Eglin Air Force
Base. Tibbets then received orders assigning him to the Air War College at
Maxwell Air Force Base, from which he graduated in June 1955. His next
assignment was director of war plans, Allied Air Forces in Central Europe at
Fontainebleau, France. In February 1956, he returned to the United States as
commander, 308th Bombardment Wing, Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia.

In January 1959, Tibbets was reassigned to MacDill Air Force Base, Florida,
where he assumed command of the 6th Air Division. He was promoted to the rank of
Brigadier General. In February 1961, General Tibbets was assigned to
Headquarters U.S. Air Force as Director of Management Analysis (redesignated as
Directorate of Status Analysis effective March 27, 1961). In July 1962, General
Tibbets was assigned to the Joint Staff, Organization of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, as Deputy Director for Operations, J-3. In June 1963, with reorganization
of the Operations Directorate, Joint Staff, General Tibbets became Deputy
Director for the National Military Command System. In August 1964 General
Tibbets was assigned as the assistant commanding offer to the U.S. supply
mission to India based in New Delhi.

Upon return to the United States, General Tibbets retired from the U.S. Air
Force on August 31, 1966. He had completed more than 29 and one-half years of
service, but he was not through flying. Initially he resided in Geneva,
Switzerland, operating three Lear jets throughout central Europe. There, he
helped to educate the air ministries about the jet's uses. He also advised the
air ministries about the aviation controls and guidelines they later instituted
within their countries. Back in Columbus, Ohio in 1970, he joined Executive Jet
Aviation, an all-jet air taxi service company, where he served in different
capacities. He rose up the corporate ladder to become Chairman of the Board in
1982. The company changed ownership in 1985 and he retired again. During these
15 years, Paul Tibbets acquired almost 400 hours in Lear Jets, flying with an
Air Transport Pilot rating.

Since his second retirement, General Tibbets enjoys speaking about his career in
aviation. He is very active making public appearances all over the United States,
as well as signing copies of his book Return of the Enola Gay.